Crochet needle with thread- x



Aug. 26, 19 D. A. OWENS CROCHET NEEDLE WITH THREAD -RETAINING CLIP Filed Dec. 24, 1949 Patented Aug. 26; .1952

UNITED STATES CROCHET NEEDLE WITH THR-EAD- RETAINING CLIP Davie A. Owens, Fulton, Miss., assignlor to C. J.

Bates 8.: Son, Chester, (101111.53. partnership Application December 24, 1949, Serial No. 134,913

7 Claims. (01. 6 -118) This invention relates in general to the'art of crocheting and relates more particularly to a. crochet needle having novel thread-retaining means.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a crochet needle with means to retain a thread on the shank of the crochet needle during any temporary cessation of the crocheting, but conveniently available for resumption of use whenever desired. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a crochet needle that will facilitate Crocheting work by providing a convenient thread-retaining device that will temporarily anchor one of the crochetloops or the thread, whenever the crocheting is interrupted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination crochet needle and clip particularly designed and adapted to form a complete unit or ensemble effective to retain the thread of a ball of yarn ready for immediate subsequent use.

A further object is to provide a conventional type crochet needle with a spring-clip in a convenient disposition for securing the thread, or a loop of same, against displacement, and while the needle itself is anchored in the ball of yarn; so that the latter, thematerial, and the needle are all ready for instant use, when desired.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The invention particularly contemplates the provision of means especially designed and adapted to facilitate crocheting work by the addition of comparatively simple means applied to the shank of the crochet needle where, whenever the Crocheting is interrupted, the thread, or a loop of same, may be securely retained under the springclip of this invention, while the needle itself is conveniently embedded in the ball of yarn.

Heretofore, when interruptions to the crocheting occurred, the thread was frequently stripped from the ball of yarn to an appreciable extent and a number of the crochet-loops were unraveled. In accordance with this invention, such interruptions to the crocheting do not entail snarling of the thread or unnecessary stripping of the ball of yarn or unraveling of the crochet-loops.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention operatively applied to a crochet needle and showing the manner in which the device is put to practical use;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a crochet needle equipped with the thread-retaining means of this invention;

' Fig. 3 isa side elevational view ofthe assembly or unit shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal, elevational view of the clip-end of the needle partlyin section, and'with thethread-retaining clip secured in position by fastening-means;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on lirleE-t of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, detail, perspective view of the thread-retaining.spring-clip; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged'perspective View of the member for fastening the spring-clip to the orcchet needle.

Referring now to the drawings wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views of a preferred form of the invention, the numeral I0 designates a ball of yarn, H 'a piece of material, such as a handkerchief, to which a lace e'dgelZ is being crocheted,

and 13 a thread extending from the ball of yarn iii to the piece of material being worked'upon. 1

As best show in Fig. 1, it will be observed that a loop IQ of the lace edge I2 extends around the shank of acrochet needle l5 and with a portion of the said loop extended under the clip 16 of the present invention, hereinafter described more fully.

The crochet needle'l5, which may be of standard' design and construction, is equipped with the usual hook I! and an extended cylindrical bodyportion or shank I8. I

In accordance with the present invention and as best shown in. Fig. 6, the spring-clip I6 is formed of a length of instrument wire, such as piano wire, folded upon itself as at [9, to provide a U-shaped member having a pair of legs 20. and 2| extended in substantial parallelism, each of the legs being provided'with a similar bent portion forming retaining-fingers 22, arranged in a plane normal to the longitudinal plane of each leg.

Asbest shown in'Fig. 4, the retaining-fingers 22 are abutted against the outer or butt-end surface or" the shank l8 at the right-hand side, as seen in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, in a side-by-side relation. In further conformity with the invention, a retainer-cap or member 23 is thrust, with a force fit, over the outer or butt-end of the shank retaining-fingers 22 in abutment: against the outer extremity of the said butt-end of the shank.

It will be observed that the legs 20 and 2| of the clip It, as one of the salient features of the invention, are extended in substantially continuous abutment or contact with the shank l8 of the needle, so that when the crochet thread I3 is placed between the clip and the needle at any point therebetween, it will be wedgingly or clampingly secured to the needle and held against lateral andlengthwise displacement thereon. It is preferred to arrange the clip Hi on the shank H3 in alignment with the hook I! of the needle [5,

although deviations from this position will not affect the functioning of the device.

The construction of the retainer-cap 23 is shown in Figs. 4 and 7. It is formed or composed of suitable material, such as metal, plastics, etc., and is interiorly recessed to provide an elongated pocket as at 24, for the reception of the butt-end of the shank of the needle and the outer portions of the legs 20 and 2| of the clip I6, together with the retaining-fingers 22.

With aview to a pleasing appearance, the cap 23' may be formed with an oval or arcuate portion, as at 25, merging with a smooth or drumlike portion, as at 26. V

The function of the device and the conveniences provided by same will best be understood by inspection of Fig. 1. Herein it will be seen that the hook I! of the crochet needle I 5 has been embedded in the ball of yarn ID, while the thread I3 extending from the latter has been reached forward and formedinto the loop [4 which, after passing over a portion of the shank of the needle, is clampingly held by the clip Hi to thereby guard against the unraveling of the already-formed lace or the like. If preferred, the thread itself may be directly clamped by the spring-clip to the shank of the needle. The thread and the piece of material I! attached thereto are retained together, while the ball of yarn itself is anchored against turning and unraveling by the needle plunged therein. The ensemble of the crochet needle with clip, the ball of yarn, thread and piece of material may now be laid aside, if desired, for additional crocheting at another time, and with the assurance that the crocheting may be. resumed without delay, since all the components are grouped and connected for immediate use.

The assembling of the device may be effected, as indicated above, by placing the clip 5 against the outer portion of the shank of the needle with the retaining-fingers 22 extended over and against the extremity of the butt-end in parallelism (Fig. 5), after which the cap 23 will be forcibly thrust over the adjacent portion of the legs of the clip. The cylindrical recess 24 in the cap 23 is, as best shown in Fig. 5, of such crosssectional dimension that the cap will hold the rear ends and continuing ofiset fingers 22 of the clip-legs 20 and 2! in engagement with each other within the confines of the cap-recess 24. Hence, unless the rear ends of the clip-legs 20 and 2| are held in engagement with each other, the cylindrical wall of the cap-recess 24 will force the adjacent rear ends of said clip-legs into engagement with each other, when the cap is forced onto the needle-shank.) Accordingly, the exposed leg-portionsof the clip [6 on the needle-shank diverge outwardly toward the return-bend IS in the clip (Fig. 2), with the result that there is in the immediate vicinity of the return-bend IS in the clip either a slight clearance or only an inconsiderable pressure between the clip-legs 20 and 2| and the adjacent periphery of the needleshank. This clearance between the clip-legs 20 and 2| and the adjacent periphery of the needleshank diminishes, or the pressure therebetween increases, in the direction toward the cap 23 to a point where these clip-legs firmly engage the adjacent needle-shank somewhere in front of the cap 23. Accordingly, clamping pressure will be applied gradually on the thread as the same is being drawn underneath the clip IS on the needleshank, thereby protecting the thread from any undue chafing action of the clip. The invention, it is to be noted, may be applied to any standard form of crochet needle without alteration to the latter.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle having a generally cylindrical shank, said provisions comprising a wire clip having opposite diverging legs disposed in a plane substantially tangential to said shank and being narrower spaced at one end than at the other end, and a cross-member joining said legs at said other end and being spaced from said shank, said clip extending longitudinally substantially parallel to the aXis of said shank with said legs diverging on opposite sides, respectively of said shank axis; and means securing said legs at said one end thereof to said shank.

2. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle as set forth in claim 1, in which said crossmemberis continuous with, and is a return-bend in, the wire of said legs, and said return-bend is curved outwardly from said tangential plane and shank axis.

3. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle having a generally cylindrical shank, said provisions comprising a wire clip having parallel engaging wire terminal-ends and continuing diverging wire legs, respectively, disposed in a plane substantially tangential to said shank, said legs being opposite said terminal-ends joined by a continuing wire return-bend spaced from said shank and said clip extending with said terminalends on an end-length of said shank substantially parallel tothe axis of the latter with said legs diverging on opposite sides, respectively, of said shank axis; and means securing said terminalends to said shank;

4. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle as setforth in'claim 3, in which said securing-means comprises a cap force-fitted over said shank end-length and wire terminal-ends thereon,

5. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle having a cylindrical shank, said provisions comprising a wire clip having parallel engaging wire terminal-ends and continuing diverging wire legs, respectively, disposed in a plane substantially tangential to said shank, said legs being opposite said terminal-ends joined by a continuing wire return-bend spaced from said shank and said clip extending with said terminal-ends on an endlength of said shank substantially parallel to the axis of the latter with said legs diverging on opposite sides, respectively, of said shank axis; and a cap having a cylindricalrecess force-fitted over 5 said shank end-length and wire terminal-ends thereon.

6. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle as set forth in claim 5, in which said wire legs are resilient and resiliently flexed into their diverging relation, and said wire legs are held in said resiliently flexed diverging relation by the forced engagement of said wire terminal-ends with each other by said cylindrical recess of the force-fitted cap.

7. Thread-retaining provisions on a crochet needle having a cylindrical shank with a buttend, said provisions comprising a wire clip having parallel engaging wire lengths terminating at one end in laterally-extending wire fingers, respectively, and having at the other end continuing diverging wire legs, respectively, said wire lengths and legs being disposed in a plane substantially tangential to said shank and said legs being opposite said wire lengths joined by a continuing wire return-bend spaced from said shank, said fingers bearing against the butt-end of said 6 r j shank and said wire lengthsextending on an endlength of said shank substantially parallel to the axis of the latter with saidlegs diverging on opposite sides, respectively, of said shank axis; and a cap having a recess with a cylindrical side wall and a bottom wall of which said side wall is forcefitted over said shank end-length and wire lengths thereon and said bottom wall holds said fingers against the butt-end of said shank.

DOVIE A. OWENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,111,501 Scheible Sept. 22, 1914 1,131,621 White -1 Mar. 9, 1915 1,358,067 Ensfield Nov. 9, 1920 1,496,579 Kraus June 3, 1924 1,534,001 Blackman Apr. 14, 1925 

